i have been making, therefore eating, a lot of crepes lately. this is just one of two posts to come! one day, i started thinking about these yellow pancakes we were served every morning at our riad in marrakech, morocco. they had all these bubbles on top and though i can not really describe what they tasted like, they were tasty and kind of strange. i would fill mine up with the hard boiled eggs and butter that were also served with it, and maybe something sweet too. We honestly had no idea what to do with them, except eat em. recently, i started wondering if this was some sort of traditional moroccan food, and it turns out, they are!!!! moroccan crepes. why, it took me so long to figure this out, i do not know.
i decided i would give these a try! the base is semolina flour, which sounds like it would be gluten free, but it is actually very high in gluten. it is used in many pasta recipes because of the high content. the bubbles, comes from yeast. traditionally, they are served with honey and butter. i was such a tourist eating them wrong and still am! i decided to put a little spin on these. i added saffron and cinnamon to the crepe batter and made an orange butter with zest! obviously, served with moroccan mint tea!
1 1/2 cups fine semolina
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
2 tsp baking powder
3 cups plus 2 tablespoons lukewarm water
1 tablespoon yeast
Mix the flour, semolina, salt, sugar and baking powder in a mixing bowl. In a blender, measure lukewarm water to just over the 3-cup line.
Add the yeast and process on low speed to blend. Gradually add the dry ingredients.
Increase the processing speed and blend for a full minute, or until very smooth and creamy. The batter should be rather thin, like crepe batter.
Pour the batter into a bowl. Cover with plastic wrap, and leave to rest for 30 minutes to one hour, or until the top of the batter is light and a bit foamy.
Heat a small non-stick skillet over medium heat. Stir the batter, and use a ladle to pour batter into the hot skillet. Pour carefully and slowly into the center and the batter will spread evenly into a circle. (Do not swirl the pan as you would for a crepe; the batter should spread itself.) Make the beghrir as large as you like.
Bubbles should appear on the surface of the beghrir as it cooks. Don’t flip the beghrir. It only gets cooked on one side.
Cook for about two to three minutes, or until the beghrir doesn’t appear wet anywhere on the surface. It should feel spongy, but not sticky or gummy, when you touch it lightly with your finger.
Transfer the beghrir to cool in a single layer on a clean kitchen towel. Once they are cool, they can be stacked without sticking.
for the butter:
soften a half a stick of butter. add 1 tbsp of orange zest and a bit of juice. mix together and place in a dish.
